When I open up properties on a folder containing hard-links, the file size matches the size of the linked files. Does this mean that the OS believes that much extra hard-disk space is missing? i.e. 2x the original file size?

For those who dont know, an executable folder is an application folder which also has the features of a shortcut, all in one. This lets you treat a complex application as if it was a stand-alone executable.
Let me explain:
A simple application such as notepad.exe is completely portable and atomic. It consists of a single relocatable customised icon which can be placed on your desktop, or anywhere and just runs when clicked. There’s no need for an installer/uninstaller, since you just copy it to make more, or press delete to uninstall.

The problems start if your application requires some external data files. Now you need a folder to keep your exe and all its data files together. Of course its still messy to have to open the folder to locate and run the exe among all its data files. So, you create a shortcut link to the exe, so you can run it without having to open its folder. This is where it all goes wrong: Now you have two seperate entities, the shortcut, and the folder. If only the folder could also act as the shortcut to the exe within, such as RiscOS does, then you wouldnt need to split them up.
By convention, the shortcut gets placed on your desktop or start menu, and the folder gets hidden in C:\Program Files. This causes more problems than it solves. The folder can no longer be moved, without breaking the shortcut, and now you need an installer/uninstaller to manage your app.
And the shortcut concept is not very intuitive for new windows users. How often have you seen new users delete a shortcut to uninstall an app, not knowing that the real app is still hidden in Program Files? Also, if they copy the shortcut to another computer, it will no longer work.

An executable folder solves all these problems. It groups the app, its data files and its shortcut together in a single atomic icon, which wont break if you copy it to a new location, and can be uninstalled simply by pressing delete. Its so much simpler to use and more intuitive for beginners.
The executable folder takes on the icon of the exe, and runs the app when clicked. Or, you can still open it as a folder, by selecting “Explore” from its right-click context menu.

So far I have found 2 windows features which ALMOST reproduces this functionality:
You can place an Autorun.inf file on a cd, to specify what icon to display on the CD drive icon, and what exe to run when its clicked. Unfortunately this only works in the root of a filing system, such as a cd or a Usb key, and it wont work on application folders on your desktop.

I got even better results from junction points:
I created a folder, and set its system bit with: chmod +s MyFolder
I then placed notepad.exe, and a shortcut to notepad.exe in it, and called the shortcut “Target”
Finally I create a Desktop.ini file containing the following text:
[.ShellClassInfo]
CLSID={0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}

Suddenly MyFolder takes on the notepad icon, and its properties shows that it is now a sortcut to the Notepad.exe within. The only problem is, if you click the shortcut/folder, nothing happens. This type of Symlink only works if “Target” was linked to a folder, and not a file. Maybe its possible to make it work if I use the correct GUID in desktop.ini, or change some regitry settings?
Or maybe I need to write the COM class myself, but then I need to know more about exactly how the folder shortcut class works.
Does anyone know were I can find more info on this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As soon as I discovered symlinks I wanted to shift my Documents folder to D: So I followed some tutorial and it moved just fine. Except some program was still using one file in the original so the original Documents folder remained undeleted. So I had two entries in Explorer and their contents are different.

I renamed one of them to “Documents on C” emptied that folder. So I should be able to delete that pesky original Documents (renamed). But no. Deleting that deletes the D: version, EEEK!! No worries I got it back from the bin.

I will open a command window and make the necessary changes. I just wanted to warn folks symlinks could have lost me a lot of data.

Thanks for the info.

Windows Services for Unix is not available for Vista mainly because a big part of it already ships with Vista, Interix included (according to the Wikipedia).

E.g.:
Vista symlink: C:\Testfolder -> C:\Users\me\Testfolder
In Linux: cd /mnt/vista/Testfolder = cd /mnt/vista/Users/me/Testfolder ?